What was the German tennis star accused of?

Loading Zverev rejected the order and pleaded his innocence. He described the charges as “bullshit”. Who are Brenda Patea and Olya Sharypova? Both women were partners of Zverev. Brenda Patea is a model, who was previously a contestant on reality-TV show Germany’s Next Top Model, and was not only Zverev’s partner but also the mother of his daughter. They started dating shortly after he broke up with Sharypova. Sharypova is a former Russian professional tennis player who went out with Zverev when they were in their mid-teens and then again in their early 20s.

According to tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, who is credited with breaking the stories about Zverev, Sharypova’s first allegations were made in an Instagram post before she then did interviews with the Russian website Championat and on CNN. Rothenberg then wrote a long article in Slate magazine in 2021 in which Sharypova said she had been repeatedly physically abused by Zverev during their relationship. She outlined abuse she said she had suffered in New York, Shanghai, Monaco and Geneva. She did not press criminal charges. Zverev then and now has denied the allegations. Ten months later, Patea did an interview with a German newspaper outlining the abuse she suffered and laid criminal charges.

What was the outcome following the allegations? The ATP investigated the Sharypova claims for 15 months, and in January 2023 decided to take no further action. The investigation included interviews with Zverev, Sharypova and 24 others, including family, friends and other players, as well as analysis of text messages, audio files and photographs. Alexander Zverev and Olya Sharypova in happier times. Credit: Getty The ATP did not release the full report of its findings. “From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence and denied the baseless allegations made against me,” Zverev said the day the investigations findings were released. “I welcomed and fully co-operated with the ATP’s investigation and am grateful for the organisation’s time and attention in this matter.”

According to Rothenberg, Zverev successfully sued Slate over the article in Germany, and a court issued a preliminary injunction ordering it be taken down there, but it remains available in the United States and elsewhere. Zverev and Rothenberg remain in a legal battle over his reporting on the allegations of domestic abuse. Rothenberg has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for his legal defence. What happened to the criminal charges in the German court? Zverev appealed against the penalty order and a public trial began on May 31 last year in Berlin. Ahead of the trial, the court released information on the case:

“In May 2020, he (Zverev) is said to have briefly choked his then-partner’s neck with both hands in the stairwell of a Berlin apartment building during an argument. The alleged victim is said to have suffered shortness of breath and considerable pain.” On June 7 last year, it was announced that Zverev had settled the case out of court after agreeing to terms with Patea and the prosecutor’s office. It included payment of €200,000 ($330,000), 75 per cent of which went to German state treasury and the balance went to non-profit organisations. Alexander Zverev in his post-match media conference after losing the Australian Open final 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 3-6. Credit: AP “The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence,” the court told the BBC. In a statement, Zverev’s legal team said he had agreed to the settlement “in order to shorten the process especially in the interest of the child they have together”.

What was Zverev’s response following his loss to Sinner? “I believe there are no more accusations. There haven’t been for, what, nine months now. Good for her [the spectator]. I think she was the only one in the stadium who believed anything in that moment,” Zverev said. “If that’s the case, good for her. I think I’ve done everything I can, and I’m not about to open that subject again.” What Australian Open organisers say of the protest?

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